Bobbe Lee (Brownsey) Gull died July 22, 2018, in Columbia, Missouri, following an extended illness.
Bobbe was born February 18, 1935, to Everett and Mildred (Jones) Brownsey of LaPorte, Indiana. She grew up on the shores of Stone Lake and graduated from LaPorte High School in 1953. After graduating she moved to Chicago, where she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was first employed by American Airlines but left to take a job at Playboy Enterprises, where she facilitated the magazine’s transition to computer-based operations. Bobbe ultimately became Manager of Systems Design for Hugh M. Hefner Publishing. It was during this time she met her future husband, Gary James Gull of Chicago, and they were married on January 20, 1962. Bobbe and Gary created and operated several Chicago bars and restaurants in the 1960s and ’70s, including Geja’s Wine Bar, the Mushroom, T.H. Pardiggle’s Pub, the Squash Blossom restaurant and Hoots discotheque.
Bobbe applied her artistic skills to many fields in addition to her painting, including interior design, advertising and visual marketing. She redesigned the old Trophy Room restaurant at the Michigan City Holiday Inn, later achieving the position of General Manager of the hotel. She worked creatively for Levine’s department store in LaPorte and was art director for Marquette Mall in Michigan City. Bobbe was active with the Area Artists Association and volunteered at the Michigan City (now Lubeznik) Community Center for the Arts for many years.
Shortly after returning to LaPorte in 1977, she created all of the interior design and artwork for the Tangerine restaurant, which she and Gary opened with her cousin David Jones of LaPorte and his wife Nancy. Her inspirations for the stunning transformation of the old Carlbeck Hotel on Michigan Avenue were “the golden age of ocean liners” and the magnificent whooping cranes that could be found in northern Indiana in years past.
Bobbe loved to travel. During their 56-year marriage she and Gary explored numerous locations in Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, India, Africa, and southeast Asia. After retirement they lived in Chicago and Las Vegas.
Bobbe was preceded in death by her parents, Everett and Mildred. She is survived by her husband Gary of Columbia, MO; daughter Tamara of Columbia, MO; son Darius of Denver, CO; sister Margo Caylor of Tucson, AZ; and stepmother Mildred Brownsey of Tucson, AZ.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lubeznik Community Center for the Arts, 101 W. Second St., Michigan City IN 46360, or the Alzheimer’s Association. Bobbe will be privately inurned at Pine Lake Cemetery, LaPorte, at a later date.
A private memorial gathering will be held in Michigan City on Sunday, August 26, 2018. Persons wishing to attend may email garyjgull@gmail.com.
Memorial Funeral Home, West Columbia, MO, handled the arrangements.
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